With the growth of the specialty and artisan soap market, consumers are being offered personal washing bars that provide a wider range of sensory benefits and experiences. There is an ongoing need for technologies that are suitable for personal washing bars targeted to the mass market that provide novel sensory attributes that can be combined in various ways to cue product benefits.
One approach to sensory combinations that is well known in foods is the combination of opposing sensations, e.g., sweet/sour, crunchy/creamy, hot/cold. While exploring such opposing sensations in the context of personal washing, it was discovered that the sensory profile of extruded soap bars that incorporated plate-like inclusions within a certain size range in bar compositions appealed to a segment of consumers. During use, the bars were perceived as having slippery quality overall which consumers like but also had a mildly prickly or scratchy quality. This dual sensation is in contrast to the sensory experience typically provided by exfoliating bars incorporating particles of either smaller size or smaller aspect ratio with which tend to produce a higher friction between the wet bar and skin and are generally perceived as being “draggy” (drag as opposed to slip on the skin).
Consumers who appreciated this combination of tactile attributes associated the sensations with both refreshment and skin care. Surprisingly, the prickly/mildly scratchy sensation produced by these plate-like polymer inclusions in combination with a highly lubricious “background sensation” was perceived to be quite different from the cleansing experience delivered by conventional “exfoliating bars”. With the instant bars, the words consumers used to describe the experience were qualitatively different and indicated a more intense association with skin-stimulation, health and wellbeing. Furthermore, when the plate-like inclusions were reflective, the inclusions were perceived as “crystal-like” particles and this visual component intensified the holistic quality of the overall bathing experience.
Common exfoliants used in the art include natural minerals such as silica, talc, calcite, pumice, tricalcium phosphate, and bentonite; seeds such as rice, apricot seeds; crushed shells such as almond and walnut shells; oatmeal and cornmeal; polymer beads such as polyethylene and polypropylene beads; flower petals and leaves; microcrystalline wax beads; and jojoba ester beads.
Various technologies have been disclosed in the art to deliver exfoliation benefits from personal washing bars. These include:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,217 to Puvvada et al issued Dec. 16, 2003 discloses toilet bar compositions having simultaneous exfoliating and moisturizing properties delivered via compositions that combine synthetic surfactants, moisturizers and various exfoliating particles.
US 2005/0123574 to Abbas et al published Jun. 9, 2005 discloses a massaging toilet soap containing disintegratable agglomerates. The individual particles comprising the agglomerates include clays (kaolin and bentonite), silica, zeolite, cellulose, various starches and cyclodextrin.
US2003/0219464 to Incando et al published Nov. 27, 2003 discloses methods and means for skin rejuvenation including hair growth stimulation. A derm-brassion compound soap having 0.5% to 99% floured pumice in a glycerin base with 40% honey is disclosed.
US2005/0084470 to Abbas et al published Apr. 21, 2005 discloses skin care and cleansing compositions containing oil seed products particles. The use of native oil seeds; ground, broken or fractured oil seeds; oil seed cakes or blends thereof are disclosed.
WO2006/009625 to Volz et al published Jan. 26, 2006 discloses a soap bar having at least two different potions that differ in solubility by at least 1%. The technology is claimed to deliver a massaging effect.
In contrast, the bars of the present invention incorporate plate-like polymer particles of a specific size range in a continuous phase that provides high lubricity or slipperiness when contacted with water. It is the combination of these specific properties that provides the unusual tactile effects.